May 2015 Yaris Sales: Up

[Thirty-Nine]

U.S. sales of the Toyota Yaris were up 54.3% with 2,401 units sold. Year to date Yaris sales are up 37% with 9,878 cars sold.

May YTD Yaris Sales Through the Years
2015: 9,878
2014: 7,210
2013: 11,179
2012: 17,964
2011: 10,287
2010: 20,577

Full Subcompact Sales Chart here:
http://www.subcompactculture.com/2015/06/may-2015s-sales-are-in-books-and-if-you.html

[ern-diz]

Getting straight murdered by the Corolla S

[Thirty-Nine]

Getting straight murdered by the Corolla S

There's little incentive to push a Yaris to a customer, since dealers only make a couple hundred dollars on subcompact cars.

See this:
http://www.subcompactculture.com/2015/05/will-lower-gas-prices-and-low-profits.html

[ern-diz]

There's little incentive to push a Yaris to a customer, since dealers only make a couple hundred dollars on subcompact cars.

See this:
http://www.subcompactculture.com/2015/05/will-lower-gas-prices-and-low-profits.html

Interesting

[nookandcrannycar]

There's little incentive to push a Yaris to a customer, since dealers only make a couple hundred dollars on subcompact cars.

See this:
http://www.subcompactculture.com/2015/05/will-lower-gas-prices-and-low-profits.html

Great post on your blog. I wonder how Obama's more aggressive CAFE mandates, once implemented down the road, will effect that scenario? Extreme efforts to squeeze more MPG out of bigger vehicles, plus very small, very fuel efficient, VERY aggressively priced (break even or a bit worse for manufacturers) ?

Or will the next POTUS reverse those CAFE mandates :biggrin: ?

[Thirty-Nine]

I think it has less to do with CAFE and more to do with the price of oil. Manufacturers will have to offer the fuel-efficient cars under CAFE, but people won't have to buy them.

[Kalispel]

MPG issues aside, most Americans just seem really adverse to subcompact size vehicles, and in many cases any car smaller than a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. The limit for most seems to be Corolla/Civic-sized vehicles - and most of them probably buy those because they cannot really afford the Camry/Accord. It's interesting how different our mainstream consumer tastes are versus Europe, Asia, etc.

[nookandcrannycar]

MPG issues aside, most Americans just seem really adverse to subcompact size vehicles, and in many cases any car smaller than a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. The limit for most seems to be Corolla/Civic-sized vehicles - and most of them probably buy those because they cannot really afford the Camry/Accord. It's interesting how different our mainstream consumer tastes are versus Europe, Asia, etc.

I think it's sad that many Americans seem to be more preoccupied with advertising and 'keeping up with the Joneses' than the thought of investing the difference you'd have by making a less expensive choice. Many other countries have higher fuel prices, and some have taxes on engine size (as much as I love small cars, such taxes = :rolleyes: IMO), and such factors likely hold sway re vehicle choices.

[nookandcrannycar]

I think it has less to do with CAFE and more to do with the price of oil. Manufacturers will have to offer the fuel-efficient cars under CAFE, but people won't have to buy them.

I guess you're right. Many people think 'what is the nicest car I can get for my monthly payment', and car sales reps target accordingly. My view is that if you don't have enough money to pay cash for a car, why wouldn't you be trying to buy the cheapest car possible so that you can build wealth and pay cash for that nicer car in the future, without being strapped. The one exception I can think of is if you can structure a business so that you can write off the effective cost of a lease...then it would be prudent to do a lease. The one thing I can think of that might turn all of the above into ashes is...what does my spouse think/want :biggrin:.

[YodaBird]

Ask yourself, how many people really have the cash for a car, unless they save or inherit money, then they usually buy a expensive car depending on how much they inherit.

We all know; car payments + car insurance + gas can throw anyone over the edge, eliminate one of them, mostly car payments and not that insurance gets cheaper but it's a little more comfortable knowing you only have to pay $1500 - $3000 average a year for insurance and when my renewal comes I always say a four letter word, every year. :(

[nookandcrannycar]

unless they save

This is key. Think, just as an example, the mindset outlined in the book "The Millionaire Next Door". This is easier to apply in a lower tax, lower service place like Texas, but the principles are still applicable to anyone...at least any citizen of the U.S., Canada, Western European countries, Australia, New Zealand, and some countries in Asia.

We all know; car payments + car insurance + gas can throw anyone over the edge, eliminate one of them, mostly car payments and not that insurance gets cheaper but it's a little more comfortable knowing you only have to pay $1500 - $3000 average a year for insurance

:eek: Re insurance rates. Near or in GTA :biggrin:? Only a fraction of the states in the U.S. have no-fault insurance, which I understand is the norm in Canada. In 'non no-fault' states, If you own your vehicle outright (no lien/loan), then you aren't required to have comprehensive or collision insurance, which helps keep rates down. Living in a low crime zip code, and having an excellent credit score also help. Other things that don't apply to everyone (making the decision to be married, and doing so) also help.

and when my renewal comes I always say a four letter word, every year. :(

:laugh:

[YodaBird]

If you get in a collision, then you have nothing to cover you. I already pay, well, some wold say average $2000+ :(

[nookandcrannycar]

If you get in a collision, then you have nothing to cover you. I already pay, well, some wold say average $2000+ :(

If you drive a beater, then you aren't losing much if you aren't covered. If you have the money to replace the car and you have a great deal of confidence in your driving ability, then you are taking a calculated risk. I've only had this bite me in the butt three times, and have saved the cost of having to have full coverage for over 35 years. I paid cash, money I had saved from working, for a Capri when I was 17. When I was 18, I sold the Capri for a profit, put other cash with that, and bought a new Scirocco. My grandfather's insurance agent lied to me about how much full coverage would be on the Scirocco, so I dropped the comprehensive and collision. I later totaled the Scirocco, and then shared my mother's Mustang with her for a year and a half until I got the Mustang full time after my grandmother stopped driving and my mother got my grandmother's Lincoln. The second time was much later, when I had my GTI. I'd already put over 190,000 miles on the GTI. A person ahead of me pulled out into traffic onto a main surface street from a freeway off ramp. After checking traffic, I followed. The lady in the car ahead of me then slammed on her brakes to keep from running over a squirrel :rolleyes:. The third time was last October (story told on a previous thread.....Bronsin wrote that the other driver should have been at LEAST partially at fault :thumbsup::laugh:..) in my blue Yaris..fender bender with an Expedition SUV...and my blue Yaris had well over 290,000 miles on it at the time.

[Thirty-Nine]

Ask yourself, how many people really have the cash for a car, unless they save or inherit money, then they usually buy a expensive car depending on how much they inherit.

We all know; car payments + car insurance + gas can throw anyone over the edge, eliminate one of them, mostly car payments and not that insurance gets cheaper but it's a little more comfortable knowing you only have to pay $1500 - $3000 average a year for insurance and when my renewal comes I always say a four letter word, every year. :(

According to Consumer Reports:

A record 84.5 percent of shoppers who acquired a new car last quarter used financing, either a loan or a lease. That's the highest level since Experian Automotive, an information service company, began tracking this data in 2006.

So nearly 85% of Americans make monthly payments. Keep in mind in 2014, 16.52 million (yes million) new cars were sold in the U.S. That means that 5% of the entire population of the United States got a new car in '14.

People want new cars. And in the U.S., where bigger is usually equated to better, small car sales are a tough sell, especially when 1) there isn't much profit and 2) when gas prices fall.

[ern-diz]

People want new cars.

...as I'm going into yr 8 with my Vader helmet :biggrin:

Kidding aside, I would like a new car, something different, but just can't get myself into a monthly payment when my car is perfectly fine and I don't even commute for work. It would be a gross misuse of funds.

[attrapereves]

I love smaller hatchbacks like the Yaris. The front seat room feels the same as a Corolla. My wife's newer Mazda 3 actually feels smaller up front than my Yaris.

However, the backseat room is quite different. Luckily we do not have kids. I love the hatchback with the seats removed for storage.

I see so many trucks on the road here, it's ridiculous. Most of them aren't even dirty. Unless you live on a farm or work construction, a truck is a waste of gas and money.

I bet truck and SUV sales have been going up since gas prices have declined. As soon as gas is up to $5/gallon, those people will be crying and trying to trade in their hunk for a smaller car.

[Thirty-Nine]

...as I'm going into yr 8 with my Vader helmet :biggrin:

Kidding aside, I would like a new car, something different, but just can't get myself into a monthly payment when my car is perfectly fine and I don't even commute for work. It would be a gross misuse of funds.

I've never had a car more than two years ... until I got my Yaris. It'll be eight years with my '07 in August!

I've come to not enjoy a car payment. Trying to pay off our WRX soon. About six months left—it can't come soon enough.

And yes, when (not if, but when) gas prices go back up, I'm sure we'll see the used car lots stocked full of gas guzzlers ... again.

[ern-diz]

I've never had a car more than two years ... until I got my Yaris. It'll be eight years with my '07 in August!

I've come to not enjoy a car payment. Trying to pay off our WRX soon. About six months left—it can't come soon enough.

And yes, when (not if, but when) gas prices go back up, I'm sure we'll see the used car lots stocked full of gas guzzlers ... again.

Totally agree.

We got our cars nearly at the same time. Late July/early August.

[nookandcrannycar]

According to Consumer Reports:



So nearly 85% of Americans make monthly payments. Keep in mind in 2014, 16.52 million (yes million) new cars were sold in the U.S. That means that 5% of the entire population of the United States got a new car in '14

:thumbsup: Fascinating. Thanks for posting this.

in the U.S., where bigger is usually equated to better

IMO, this is because much of the populace are sheep being herded by marketers, rather than having the self awareness to examine what they really need and what might be in their best interest. However, I think people should be able to make any such decisions without any level of government influencing them.

[nookandcrannycar]

I see so many trucks on the road here, it's ridiculous. Most of them aren't even dirty.

:laugh:

Unless you live on a farm or work construction, a truck is a waste of gas and money.

:thumbsup: Yep. Unless you are using the tuck in some other type of business.

I bet truck and SUV sales have been going up since gas prices have declined. As soon as gas is up to $5/gallon, those people will be crying and trying to trade in their hunk for a smaller car.

:thumbsup: Yep.

[nookandcrannycar]

just can't get myself into a monthly payment when my car is perfectly fine and I don't even commute for work. It would be a gross misuse of funds.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Exactly !!!

[nookandcrannycar]

I've never had a car more than two years ... until I got my Yaris. It'll be eight years with my '07 in August!

I've come to not enjoy a car payment. Trying to pay off our WRX soon. About six months left—it can't come soon enough.

And yes, when (not if, but when) gas prices go back up, I'm sure we'll see the used car lots stocked full of gas guzzlers ... again.

:thumbsup:

[Thirty-Nine]

IMO, this is because much of the populace are sheep being herded by marketers, rather than having the self awareness to examine what they really need and what might be in their best interest. However, I think people should be able to make any such decisions without any level of government influencing them.

Agreed. Plus, North America is one of the places in the world big enough that we can have giant vehicles. Places like Europe and much of Asia are simply too densely populated to make driving anything larger than a Yaris feasible.

Big vehicles = big profits in the U.S.